Zoo kills baby bear being bullied by its father… who had already killed one cub

Two healthy baby bears have died in Bern zoo after the father killed one and bullied another, who was then put down (Picture: CEN)

A Swiss zoo is being criticised after a dominant male bear killed one of his own cubs in front of the public, and bullied a second one to such an extent that zoo-keepers were forced to put down the healthy baby.

Animal rights groups say the brown bears in Bern’s Dählhölzli zoo should have been separated to prevent 360kg father Misha from becoming jealous of the attention the cubs were receiving from their mother, Masha.

The two cubs – known as Baby Bear Two and Baby Bear Three – were born in mid-January to the breeding couple who had been donated in 2009 by then Russian president Dmitry Medvedev and his wife.

In the wild, female bears typically drive away their male partner to protect their cubs after giving birth, because the male is likely to see cubs as a rival and kill them.

But the zoo refused to separate the bear family, maintaining it wanted to give the animals the most natural environment possible, and worried that separating the adults would lead to ‘massive behavioural disorders’.

Misha killed one cub last week, and bullied a second so badly the zoo felt they had to put it down.

The Swiss Animal Protection group condemned the zoo, saying: ‘It is not natural to keep the male bear with the offspring, and there was more than enough space to have kept him in a separate part of the cage.

‘We strongly condemn the incidents that have led to the unnecessary and painful death to bred bear cubs.’